Mount Clemens Goes to the
Movies:
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Movie directors and technical staff confer on the streets of downtown Mount Clemens during the filming of The Mount Clemens Story in 1951. (Monitor-Leader photos courtesy of the Macomb Daily)
During the Korean War, movie fans across the nation were introduced to Mount Clemens, Michigan, courtesy of a documentary short filmed by the Air Force and distributed as a movie trailer to theaters nationwide.
The Bath City's road to the silver screen began in June, 1950, when Benjamin Sternberg of the President's Committee for Religion and Welfare in the Armed Forces visited Mount Clemens and met with members of the Board of Commerce on the matter of military morale. As a result of Mr. Sternberg's visit, three articles were written by local newspaperman Desmond A. Arnsby, who communicated to the local citizenry the need to care for the morale of area service personnel. Only a week after the publication of Arnsby's series, civic leaders met and formed the Mount Clemens Military-Community Relations Committee under the chairmanship of Mrs. Joseph Blundo.
The town's swift assumption of responsibility for the welfare of servicemen drew attention in high places, and Mount Clemens became a model for other military communities to follow because it had established the first active military relations committee.
Mount Clemens' efforts were repaid when the Public Information Office of the United States Air Force decided to make a film on the subject of hospitality toward airmen. Five military towns were in the running to serve as the subject and locale of the movie, and Mount Clemens was ultimately chosen.
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Air Force officials arrive at the Jewel Theatre in Mount Clemens for the world premiere of The Mount Clemens Story on August 13, 1951. (Monitor-Leader photo courtesy of the Macomb Daily)
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Filmed on location in June of 1951 by the Jerry Fairbanks Studio, The Mount Clemens Story was narrated by Desmond A. Arnsby, and "starred" numerous local citizens including Walter G. Fenton, Pansy Bell, Albert A. Wagner, and children from the nearby Sigma Gamma Hospital. The opening scenes of the movie showed a picnic hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Mount Clemens, followed by shots of other social events in which base personnel were involved. Frank J. Munt's Chris-Craft Maridic II was used for filming cruise scenes on the Clinton River. The religious aspect of the city-base relationship was represented in the film by Dr. Frank McCoy Field, pastor of First Methodist Church, who is seen in the movie greeting airmen on the front steps of his church after a service.
On August 13, 1951, the premiere of The Mount Clemens Story was held at the Jewel Theater in downtown Mount Clemens. Chief among the dignitaries attending was Air Force Chief of Staff Hoyt S. Vandenberg, who also dedicated a new housing project at Selfridge, named Vandenberg Village in honor of the general's late uncle, Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan. Gen. Vandenberg said that the Bath City had been chosen for the film because "Mount Clemens has always welcomed servicemen with wide-open arms." Other notable guests among the 1,300 who attended the premiere were Dale McIntyre of WJR, master of ceremonies; Dr. Philip T. Mulligan, mayor of Mount Clemens, and Col. James R. Gunn, commander at Selfridge Air Force Base.
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